Kristers Gudlevskis | Goalie | #50

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Kristers Gudlevskis has been sent to AHL Syracuse.

Ben Bishop is expected to start the season as the Lightning's starting goaltender and Andrei Vasilevskiy will be the backup. Gudlevskis might be summoned in the event of an injury, but otherwise he's projected to spend the full 2016-17 campaign in the minors. Bishop can become an unrestricted free agent beyond this season though, so there might be an opportunity for Gudlevskis to become Vasilevskiy's understudy at that point. Oct 6 - 6:46 PM

Kristers Gudlevskis has inked a one-year, two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Gudlevskis posted a 2.83 GAA and .907 save percentage in 41 AHL contests in 2015-16. He's projected to start the 2016-17 campaign in the minors, but beyond that he might end up as the Lightning's backup goaltender if Ben Bishop walks after his contract expires in 2017 or is traded before that and the LIghtning don't sign another veteran goalie at that time. Jul 2 - 6:47 PM

After Ben Bishop was injured in Game 1 against Pittsburgh, Kristers Gudlevskis backed up Andrei Vasilevskiy.

If Bishop can't go in Game 2, Vasilevskiy would start and Gudlevskis would serve as the backup from the start of the game. Gudlevskis started just one NHL game this season, and it came back in October. The 23-year-old had a 16-12-8 record with a 2.83 goals-against-average and a .907 save percentage with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch in 2015-16. May 15 - 10:54 AM

Valtteri Filppula found the back of the net in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Filppula's goal came late in the third period with his team trailing 5-0 at the time. Brayden Point and Andrej Sustr picked up the assists on Tampa Bay's lone marker. Filppula has five goals and 11 assists in 23 games this season.

Brian Boyle scored in the fourth round of a shootout as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 Saturday night.

The pressure was on Boyle as the Lightning were back on their heels with a four-game losing streak. During this stretch, the Bolts scored only one goal in two of their contests, but the other two losses came with three goals against the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 25th and the St Louis Blues on Thursday. Nikita Kucherov scored the lone goal for Tampa Bay in regulation.

The Lightning went into the third period trailing 2-1, but Killorn managed to tie the game before Ryan Callahan gave them a lead just 12 seconds later. After a hot start, Killorn has slowed down considerably. He's scored just two goals in his last 14 contests (the goals have come in his last four games). Killorn has eight goals and four assists in 21 games this season. He's on pace to surpass his career-high of 17 goals.

Vladislav Namestnikov will be scratched against the Blues on Thursday.

Namestnikov has posted just three goals and 10 points in 24 games this season with 10 PIMs and hits. However his time had been on the downslide lately, perhaps tonight is a good opportunity to sit back and learn.

Jonathan Drouin scored a goal in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

Drouin's goal at the 11:46 mark of the second period cut Vancouver's lead to 3-1, but that's as close as the Bolts would come to tying the game. The marker snaps Drouin's seven-game goal drought. He has four goals and seven assists in 20 games this season.

He opened December with a goal and an assist against St. Louis on Thursday, but before that he tallied 10 goals and 18 points in 15 November matches. Kucherov is second in the NHL with 28 points in 24 games.

Earlier this week Callahan was regarded as probable for Thursday's game, but he didn't end up playing. Lightning coach Jon Cooper cited a desire not to make Callahan's injury worse as the reason he's now also being held out of practices. "He probably wants to play a little bit more but we're holding him back a little bit. We've got to think long term," Cooper said. It's not clear how long it will be until Callahan resumes practicing.

Brayden Point earned a pair of assists in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

He has recorded two multi-point performances in his last four games to give him nine points in 21 appearances with the Lightning. Point helped set up goals by Victor Hedman (power play) and Ryan Callahan on Wednesday night.

Victor Hedman has extended his point-streak to four games with his fifth goal of the season during Sunday's 4-1 loss to Boston.

Hedman has posted two goals and four points during the streak, and he's now up to 17 points in 23 games this season. He's on pace to collect his fourth straight double-digit goal season, and could top his career high of 13 before long.

Jason Garrison appeared to be on track to return Thursday, so Witkowski's presence does raise some concerns. Perhaps Garrison isn't ready after all or maybe Witkowski is simply up with the Lightning as insurance. We should know more after the morning skate.

Ben Bishop was pulled after allowing four goals on 20 shots in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

Bishop finished the second period, but didn't come out for the third period. The Lightning's starter is going through a tough stretch. He has just one win in his last seven games. Bishop has an 8-10-1 record with a 2.86 goals-against-average and a .906 save percentage this season. If this slide continues, he might start losing starts to Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Andrei Vasilevskiy got the opportunity to make his second start in a row Thursday to try to bounce back from a tough outing against Columbus on Tuesday.

"Vasilevskiy's played extremely well. We've been on a little bit of a tough run here," coach Jon Cooper said. "'Vasy' is on the wrong end of a tough one. We've gone back to 'Bish' on those. We're going back with Vasy in this situation." He permitted five goals on 38 shots to the Blue Jackets and he was pulled against St. Louis after he allowed four goals on 16 shots. Tampa Bay has lost four straight games and the team needs better goaltending from Vasilevskiy and Ben Bishop.